Hehe, just as I was about to post a comment the thread disappeared :D

[the message I intended to send:]

Okay, here's my very subjective and perhaps a bit naive 2 cents on the matter at hand... ;)

For me, Renderosity is a place that offers a few meters of virtual wall on which I can hang the images I've done. Sometimes people happen to walk by that little gallery of mine. Some have a quick glance at what's on display and leave, some stay a bit longer and leave a comment because they may find the pictures worth a small piece of their time and attention. I have the opportunity to enjoy other artists' galleries, and also a chance to chat with them about all things under the sun, including digital arts. I really can't ask more.

It doesn't really matter to me whether the feedback I get is positive or negative - if you find my work appalling, feel free to bark at it. If you think the things you see raise positive feelings in you, tell me about it. If you can give reasons to why you feel the way you do, even better. It's always very interesting to read about how people react to my work.

To me, Renderosity is also about getting food for my soul by looking at the fantastic works on display. If I get lucky, some of my work may give that same satisfactory feeling to others as well.

I personally think that while the goal of improving oneself as an artist is a very respectable one, it should not be taken as the leading principle by which all artwork presented here should be judged. In other words, we as individual members of this community should try to avoid imposing our own principles and ideas on others and rather "let all flowers bloom". On the other hand, I think that nobody here should take any criticism so seriously as to let it disturb one's personal feelings, as life really is too short for that. Stick to your guns and keep sending those great images of yours!

Message edited on: 03/01/2005 17:56

A couple of very good tutorial articles on Apophysis, written by fractaldreamer, can be found on this site in the Communities/Fractals section: http://www.renderosity.com/subcom.ez?ID=21 Just scroll down to the "Tutorials" part and click on the article titles. Happy rendering!

As far as I know - I'm still a beginner too - the only way of making animated flames is by using the "Make sheep" function. More information about these sheep can be found from http://flam3.com (direct link available in Apophysis' "About" window!) I've not tried making these yet, so I must apologize in advance if this information is incorrect in any way. -Petri

Congratulations all, great work! Personally I enjoyed the contest results greatly, there are so many great entries. It's so interesting to see what different artists make of the same 'ingredients', thanks to all participants on my behalf!